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Peter S. Henne

I was on WCAX, Vermont’s CBS affiliate, twice recently to discuss the US airstrikes against Syria. I appeared on a segment immediately after the strikes, and came back a few days later to discuss their effects with their anchor. We watch WCAX at home, so it was great to be able to contribute to Vermonters’ understanding of these important issues.

I’ve also had a report published with the Center for American Progress on how and why we should help religious minorities (like Christians) in Iraq. I hope the report will be of interest to those following this issue or concerned about religious repression and human rights.

I have an op-ed in The Globe Post on Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. I discuss how these laws are used to target Christians and other religious minorities, and how the international community can engage with potential reformers.

My book on Islam and counterterrorism, published by Cambridge University Press, is now out in paperback. This makes it a lot more affordable for anyone who was interested, but was turned off by the $80 hardcover price.

I spoke with VT Digger yesterday about an effort by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (in cooperation with Senators Mike Lee and Chris Murphy) to increase accountability over US involvement in Yemen. VT Digger does great, in-depth reporting on Vermont issues so I was excited to contribute to one of their stories.

My forthcoming article with The Journal of Church and State is now available online. In it, I found that states that are more active on the UN Human Rights Council have higher levels of religious repression. I argued this was due to states using their seats on the Council to deflect criticism of their record. It should be of interest to scholars working on religious politics, as well as policy experts and advocates working on religious freedom and human rights.

The first was with WION, an Indian news station. We discussed the recent release by Pakistan of Hafiz Saeed, founder of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Unfortunately, a clip is not available.

Additionally, I was excited to appear on WCAX (Channel 3 in Burlington) to discuss Trump’s recent policy changes on Jerusalem. This is the news station I watch at home, so it was great to meet everyone in person. A link to the appearance is available here.

This week I am in Washington, DC, attending the ISAC/ISSS conference–APSA and ISA’s international security section conference–held at American University. I am presenting my new research on Middle East conflicts, a paper analyzing how informal hierarchy and status competition contributed to the Six Day War.

An article I co-authored with Jason Klocek of UC-Berkeley has been published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution’s early access section (for forthcoming articles that have not yet appeared in print). In it, we argue that religious conflict makes states wary of religion in general, leading to widespread religious freedom abuses. It should be of interest to those working on conflict, human rights, and religion and politics.

I recently had an article accepted for publication at the Journal of Church and State.

The article, “Does the UN Human Rights Council help or hurt on religious repression,” addresses the debate over this international body. Some believe it will help advance human rights, while others argue it provides a platform for human rights abusers to redirect international attention. I found that states that were more active on the Human Rights Council had higher levels of domestic religious repression. I argued this is because they could use the Council to deflect criticism of their record.

The article is part of my broader work on the nature and effects of religious repression, which expands on some of the theories in my book. It may not be out for awhile, but the working paper version is up on my Publications page.

I have a piece in the Washington Post’sMonkey Cage today, which features political science research applied to current events. In it, I discuss the difficulties the United States will face pressuring Pakistan on counterterrorism, due to the historical context of Pakistan’s counterterrorism policies. The piece draws on my book, Islamic Politics, Muslim States and Counterterrorism Tensions.

I also spoke recently with the Research on Religion podcast. This series features new research on religion. In this episode I discussed my book and my broader work.